The present invention relates to a carrier apparatus for use by fire fighter, both as a carrier for fire hose and as a carrier for a person.
It is often necessary for a fire fighter to carry a length of hose with him from the fire truck to a distant location, were the hose will be put in use. For example, where a fire occurs in a high-rise building, shopping mall, large department store, in subway stations and in parking garages, it is necessary to carry the hose into the structure, and to then connect it to a stand pipe, and to deploy it so that water may be directed at the fire. Other instances were the carrying of a fire hose are required are where the fire occurs in a rural location, and it is necessary to transport the fire hose to a suitable source of water, such as a pool, stream or pond.
It is highly desireable that minimum time be consumed between the arrival at the site of the fire by the firemen and the discharging of water on the fire, and so the fire hose must be readily carried, and a suitable length must be carried by a single fire fighter, in many instances. Further, it is necessary that the hose be paid-out rapidly, and without requiring the handling of the hose at the carrier by a second fire fighter, while one fire fighter is moving with the nozzle, connected to the fire hose, towards the fire.
Among the problems which face firemen in fighting fires is the necessity for removing victims from the site of the fire, and the most facile way of handling this problem has been the calling for a stretcher by the fireman who has located the victim. This is often time consuming, especially where the fire is at a remote location from the fire engine on which the stretcher is stored, thereby necessitating an additional trip for a hardpressed fire fighter from the fire site to the fire engine to procure the stretcher or the delay incurred while a separate part of the fire fighting crew is directed to bring a stretcher to the site were the victim is located.
There has been provided in the prior art a hose pack in the form of a container of vinyl coated nylon, the container having a bottom, side walls, end walls, and two flaps which could be secured together along their edges, as by zipper, to form a top wall. This hose pack had a length of approximately twenty nine inches, a width of approximately eighteen inches, and height of approximately six inches. Carrying handles were provided, and this hose pack carried a length of hose provided in two layers, each fan-folded. The bottom layer was continuous, and the top layer was in two portions, each also fan-folded, with the terminals of the fire hose being provided with a connector or union and a nozzle, the connector or union and the nozzle being at the center of the top layer. This construction could not be used for carrying a victim from the site of the fire.
Matsuyama et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,942,636 discloses a carrier for a single fan-folded stack of fire hose which is in the form of a rectangle, and encircles the stack, being secured by suitable straps. This construction carrys a very limited length of fire hose, and is not suitable for use as a carrier for a person.